


Hannibal (NBC) The Boys (Amazon) Style

by FantasyRyder



Category: Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types, The Boys (Comics), The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: #bisexualproblems, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Based on Amazon's The Boys, Brian has a crush on everyone, Dark Brian Zeller, Dark Hannibal Lecter, Dark Jack Crawford, Dark Jimmy Price, Dark Will Graham, F/M, I'm so bad at tagging, Innocent Will Graham, It's good I swear, Jimmy is still soft, M/M, Manager Bedelia Du Maurier, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sort Of, Superhero Alana Bloom, Superhero Hannibal Lecter, Superhero Margot Verger, Superhero Matthew Brown, Tags May Change, Will is discovering himself, but everyone does messed up crap, crap goes down, everyone is dark, just read the summary please, matthew brown is a creep, no one is a good person, not really - Freeform, thank you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-15 21:04:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21259631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasyRyder/pseuds/FantasyRyder
Summary: In a universe where superheroes are ingratiated and accepted in society as celebrities of sorts, it's easy to forget they can be more flawed than the average person.Deeply Flawed.Will is the victim of those flaws but things may not be as simple as they seem.This fanfiction goes through the beats of the first few episodes of The Boys pretty uniformly but I wanted to post what I have so far because I'm rather proud and would like to see how well this is recieved before resuming writing it.Thank you so much for checking it out and I hope you all enjoy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was previously a whole, unsplit fanfiction, but I took it upon myself to break it up through chapters so it's easier to stomach.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

-HQ-

Matthew stood in this bathroom often. 

Something about residing in the corner, invisible to the eye, gave him tingles up his spine: tingles that haven’t receded since he did similar things in the women's locker room in high school. Those had been good times.

He heard the sound of the bathroom door opening: causing the cramped air of the restroom to open briefly. The faint sound of small talk among a few guards became clear and Matthew suddenly remembered there was to be a meeting of some sort between Francis (their group of superhero’s own “speedster”) and a guy he pissed off.

Despite the unlikelihood, he found himself hoping for Chiyoh’s or Margot’s presence in the unisex restroom. He straightened his stature and watched as a slightly unfamiliar form entered Vought’s (the company that regulated supers like Matthew and the women mentioned previously) immaculate bathroom.

Instead of the superwomen, he was left staring at a man. Nothing stood out about him, really; he was obviously insignificant: a basic human, nearly an inch taller than Matthew would look if he was in visible form.

He noticed a name tag placed haphazardly on the man’s cozy-looking flannel and circled him to get a better look of it, his bare feet silent against the floor.

“Will,” Matthew thought as he read it and smoothly stepped out of the man’s way when he walked into the stall in front of him and closed the door.

The translucent man had always been more inclined to women; they exuded victimhood better than men did, but the more Matthew observed Will, the more his aura reminded him of a woman’s: of a victim. He was clearly uncomfortable, pretty facial features giving way to many negative emotions with a surprising amount of anticipation laced throughout, but, ignoring that random detail, Will did not want to be there. Being invisible allowed Matthew to read people unhindered by self-consciousness and when he read Will, he saw a man who was in over his head but angry: overwhelmingly angry and vengeful.

When Matt searched his memories, he remembered the man’s face and realized where those emotions came from. 

Francis ran through his girlfriend.

Yeah, that was it.

Merely days before the present, Matthew remembered watching his coworker as he stumbled clumsily into the restroom absolutely drenched in blood. Though Matthew was a sadist, even he was disturbed as he silently watched him scrub blood from his skin.

Francis had a habit of flip-flopping between phases of sadism and sympathy and that day seemed like a sympathy day.

Later, Matt found out that he had been on a “mission” and, using his superspeed, ran straight through a woman.

Will was that woman’s boyfriend.

“He must be signing a waiver at headquarters,” Matt thought, “wouldn’t want citizens to know about one of our superheroes running through poor Molly.”

Despite the entire situation being disturbing, Matthew couldn’t gather empathy, he always had trouble with that, so he approached the stall to sneak a peek. He frowned when he noticed Will still fully clothed, fumbling with his phone, and stood a slight distance from the door cautiously.

“Shit-!” Will whispered hoarsely when something slipped from the cover of his phone and tumbled out of the stall, right in front of Matthew’s invisible form.

He regarded it curiously but did not take it, choosing to rather watch Will reach and try to grab at it desperately before someone noticed.

The door opened again and Matthew turned and looked towards Miss Bloom (a new addition to the team) fixing her appearance in the mirror hastily. He looked back and noticed that Will’s hand slipped back into the stall. The small device, no larger than a penny, did not catch Alana’s eye when she entered the bathroom or when she left. 

Matthew had the time to realize the device he was looking at was a microphone before Will snatched it, exited the stall, and left the bathroom.

-One Day Earlier-

“I’m sorry about what happened to Molly, Will.”

Will froze as he locked the liquor store doors shut for closing and turned the side of his face towards the man to get a glance of who he was talking to.

“How-... How do you know about Molly? My name?”

“I know a lot. Too much.”

Will seemed put off by that statement, silently intimidated whilst being too emotionally exhausted to care.

“You and I both know Molly wasn’t standing in the middle of the road like Francis told the press.”

_Will remembered standing in front of her that muggy afternoon. He was off shift and despite the greyness of the sky, Molly’s eyes seemed to brighten everything around her. _

_She back stepped off of the sidewalk unconsciously, looking up at Will with pure love and amusement as they quipped at one another. Molly didn’t seem to mind when she stood in the soggy leaves at the mouth of the gutter._

_She was happy._

_Will was happy._

_When her eyes closed and her head tilted to the left, Will leaned in for a kiss and-_

Will’s eyes squeezed shut, balling his fist against the glass of the door he just locked until they grew white with stress.

“Who are you?” He finally said once composing himself, turning to face the man completely.

He looked serious and gave off an odd aura. 

“Fatherly but dangerous,” Will’s mind provided.

“My name is Crawford, or Jack if you’d prefer.”

“And, why are you here? What do you want?” The younger man’s tone was bitter and stand-offish.

“I’m here because I’m sympathetic to your situation.”

_The distinctive “woosh” that flooded Will’s ears reminded him of being on a roller coaster. He was never fond of them but he dealt with them because Molly was a thrill-seeker._

_Was._

_Once the deafening sound of wind stopped, he stood in silence and shock. _

_His face was… wet._

_The smell of metal flooded his nostrils._

_His eyes opened and she was no longer standing in front of him, simply a red smear on the asphalt in his peripheral vision._

_“I can’t stop.”_

_Will looked towards the voice. It was familiar._

_“I can’t stop. I…(I can relate to having a girl. I have one. But I can't stop. I can't stop because of her).”_

_It was Francis Dolarhyde, better known as The Runner. The fastest man alive was talking to him and drenched in blood._

_“I’m sorry,” he finalized half-heartedly before running away and leaving Will infinitely more alone than he was mere seconds ago._

_…_  
…  
… 

_“Molly?” _

“H-How?” Will breathed in disbelief towards Jack, the pure pain in his voice rubbing off on the large man, causing the heart he convinced himself did not work, to ache.

“Because you’re not the only one.”

Silence.

“I can help you, Will.” He was trying to look into Will’s eyes.

He wouldn’t let him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t listening.

“You can know much more than you do now, and most importantly, I can help you get back at him.”

Will swallowed and stood there silently. His hesitation only served to reveal how he truly felt..

He wanted revenge.

He wanted to know more.

And, when he joined Jack, he decided he would.

-Present-

The plan was simple. 

Agree to sign the waiver indicating he’ll be silent about what Francis did to Molly only under the circumstance that he goes to their headquarters and The Runner apologizes to him personally.

While doing that, he’ll sneak a small microphone (hidden in his phone case) inside and stick it under their conference table after freeing it from the case in the restroom, free of eyes and cameras.

Or so he thought.

After Will executed the plan successfully, Jack found himself driving Will back to the liquor store for his night-shift. Will looked out the window and held the substantial check in his hand: a payment for his sworn silence. 

He thought back on Francis’ apology with furrowed brows. The man didn’t care. Superheroes didn’t care, Jack revealed that much.

The night Will followed Jack for the sake of knowledge revealed the true underbelly of a supes wold: sex-driven, violent, and ugly, not unlike humans but rather unnerving when a superhero's powers were kept in mind.

Will realized his blissful ignorance regarding his past idols had come to an end.

“This is the stop, right?”

“Huh-? Oh, yeah,” He opens the door and leaves the car. Before Jack could drive off, he tapped on the glass softly, remembering he'd forgotten to thank him.

Jack unrolled the window. “Yeah?”

“Thank you, for everything.”

He chuckled in response and nodded his head no, “You don’t have to thank me. You did all the heavy lifting.”

Will couldn’t help but smile faintly at his words, looking down at the moist concrete under his shoes in thought. “You know…” Jack perked curiously at Will’s introductory words, “I’ve never been much a money man.”

Jack’s brow crooks softly as an inquiry. 

Will steps back from the window, holding each side of the five-hundred thousand dollar check provided by Vought, and ripped it in half abruptly. It was bloody money as far as Will was concerned.

Molly was worth more than five hundred thousand.

Infinitely more.

“You’re a good man, Will. Take care of yourself,” Jack finalized with a warm smile and rolled up his window.

Will watched the elegant SUV drive down the darkened road, softened smile fading ever so slightly when, what he assumed was a small breeze, drifted against the back of his neck.

_“Poor thing doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into.”_

Frowning off his thoughts, he buttoned his flannel up to his jaw and turned on his heel to enter the store.


	2. Chapter 2

-HQ-

Bedelia ran her fingers through her hair in the silent office, glancing towards the small glass of amber liquid she had an intern provide her.

“You seem stressed,” a calm voice inquired.

“Hannibal,” she responded, gathering her appearance and looking towards her star pupil with a stronger posture than before he’d opened her door.

“I apologize for not knocking beforehand,” he spoke as he strode into the room self-assuredly, donning his elegant superhero outfit before sitting on a seat in front of her desk.

“It’s fine,” she waved off with a faint forgiving smile.

“What is plaguing you?”

“I’m afraid that’s none of your business, Hannibal,” Bedelia murmured in a sultry tone, looking towards the older man sitting in front of her.

Hannibal opened his mouth to question further but Bedelia found the strength to interject before he could.

“As the owner of this company, there are some things that do not involve you.”

“Yes, but I am the captain. I manage my heroes and if there is something that is bothering you about my charges, I will not hesitate to interfere.”

“You needn’t,” she breathed quickly.

His eyes practically begged for details despite his silence and she finally gave in.

“This,” she spoke as she lifted the glass and toppled the liquid into her mouth gratefully, “is a victory drink.”

“Oh?”

“That boy who threatened to topple this company’s honor finally caved: swore silence, signed the waiver, and is now out of my hair.”

Hannibal remembered watching Bedelia through her office walls a day before the current moment, x-ray vision was one of his many powers after all, and, with his super-hearing, he could pick up on Will’s seething anger through the phone Bedelia spoke to him with.

She hadn’t been able to compose herself either. While Will’s emotion was prominent in his voice, her’s reflected strongly on her face: pleasant tone of voice being contradicted by the hateful malice which gleamed in her eyes when she spoke to the stubborn man.

Hannibal had been uncharacteristically amused by their conflict. Any other individual would have received a swift execution courtesy of Captain Lecter for stressing out his boss but Will was not any other individual.

“I’m grateful,” he spoke fondly, an ill-fitting smile stretching across his face.

-Store-

It had been an hour since Jack dropped Will off and he began his shift. He smiled faintly at a kind woman as she received her change and left with the bags of alcohol she purchased..

“You have a good night. Drive safe.”

She gave a courteous nod as he slinked back and sank into the office chair behind the counter, whipping out one of the many outdated magazines his boss had provided under the counter for slow nights like this. In the background, he could hear the television airing an interview with Jimmy Kimmel and Translucent, Matthew Brown.

“So tell us, how are you able to… to vanish?” Jimmy questioned, shifting from behind his desk with curiosity as he waited for the younger superhero to stop smiling at the clapping crowd before him.

“I don’t actually vanish,” he laughed softly, correcting Jimmy quickly. He rolls up his oversized suit sleeve revealing skin and muscle the sleeve had been hiding. “My skin turns into this carbon metamaterial that bends the light.”

Jimmy’s brows were raised as he watched Matthew perform his ability, hand vanishing.

“Alright, but just to be clear,” the host began, “you have to be completely naked right?”

The crowd whoops playfully as a smile cut across the young man’s face and he nods.”

Will scoffed faintly, nodding his head no as he found the remote and turned the television down only to hear the jingle of a new customer when the door was opened again.

“Welcom-...?” When he looked from the remote, he was met with an empty liquor store. 

Standing, his eyes raked over the aisles. 

Was someone messing with him? He could have sworn he heard the bell.

The sound of something small hitting the counter in front of him caught his attention and he looked down towards the sound, eyes meeting the device he believed he stuck under the table at the superhero’s headquarters.

“What?” he breathed in disbelief, nodding his head no as he stepped from the counter.

“That was a sneaky move you tried to pull, Graham.”

Will jumped like he’d been burnt, stumbling back and into the few shelves of alcohol behind him as his eyes flickered around fearfully. His brows furrowed as he analyzed the disembodied voice: the familiar disembodied voice.

Too familiar. 

His wide, blue eyes suddenly landed on the TV again, watching as the corners of Matt’s mouth curled into a smile for the camera.

Will came to a conclusion too late.

His shirt was seized by an inhumanly strong force as fingers he did not see dug in between the tight collar and his neck, causing the button securing it in place to pop and allow the flannel to be more grabbable for his assailant. Before he could gather the instinct to fight back, he was heaved over the counter like he weighed nothing.

The voice on the television and the voice in front of him meshed together. He could no longer tell who was saying what, what was up or down, or if what was happening was even real.

He decided it was too real when he was thrown against a shelf of wine and toppled to the ground. Bottles fell with him and shattered on the ground next to his body, staining his light blue flannel an ugly red. A sharp pain residing in his forearms and head grounded him to reality.

“What’s your angle? Was that microphone bullshit all for some girl?” Matthew chucked harshly, lifting Will by his shirt again so he could barely touch the ground.

Will felt self-conscious about being manhandled by the boy when he remembered how their heights varied and noticed how scrawny he looked in his interview. He had no choice but to assume Matthew’s invisibility came with strength and a measured amount of invincibility.

The final assumption was proven when Will saw the shards of glass shift and be crushed when Matt walked over them like they were nothing.

“N-Not just for Molly,” Will snarled, glaring ahead. Matthew’s invisibility gave Will the security of not having to meet his eyes.

His silence was inquiry enough for Will.

“For everyone, you all have hu-!” He was, once again, thrown across the room and against the windows facing the road. Will heaved for breath once he hit the ground, grasping at it as he tried to find his footing to escape.

His hair was tostled and blood ran down his forearms and head from the blunt wounds and shards of glass he landed on.

“You’re pretty self-righteous aren’t you?” Matthew's tone never raised and stuck to a constant, bone-chilling calmness, like he was scolding a child who didn’t know what they did.

Will’s struggles to compose himself only became more desperate when the television that had been airing Matthew’s interview was pulled from the wall.

“Kinda cute how you think a basic guy like yourself could topple the strongest group of superheroes in the United States. I mean, when you compare you and I, I’m a hawk and you’re,” something felt wrong about the statement Matthew was about to utter, “you’re a rat.”

Will pressed back against the glass as he watched the large television make its way towards him and hover a distance above and ahead of his injured form. His eyes were as wide as saucers and Translucent gained satisfaction when watching those widened pupils shrink in fear.

“You’re a rat who thought it was a good idea coming to my nest,” Matthew finalized dangerously.

“No. No no no, Matthew, please-!” He cringed as the TV reared back to be thrown when a large, black SUV crashed through the window and into Translucent, stopping the assault before the situation could get worse.

A distance from where the SUV crashed through the wall, some shelves caved into the similar shape of a man.

Will panted, blinking through the blood that leaked from his forehead and into his eye.

“Sorry about that, Will,” Jack mumbled as he exited his vehicle.

Will was breathing harshly, eyes still widened in shock. He turned his head to eye the large gun Jack was holding and looked back towards the caved in shelves. 

“He-He's invincible to bullets, Jack.”

“I know,” he responded, flipping his hold so he was now holding the barrel of what Will assumed was an empty gun, preparing to use it like a baseball bat of sorts, “You need to get out of here.”

Will nodded dumbly, standing with trembling legs while Jack resumed his stride to where he predicted Matt landed.

Will stumbled out onto the empty sidewalk once he found his footing. It was nearly midnight with no bystanders around. No one to witness what happened between him and the invisible man nor that man and Jack, his new friend. He looked over his shoulder and watched as Jack threw punches in the air.

Despite how dumb it looked, every punch thrown looked calculated and Will took solace when it looked like Jack landed a hit. Of course, that solace was taken away when he was hit back and his fists were seized.

At that moment, Will realized he craved to be more than the man who tried to sneak a microphone in Vought’s HQ. He wanted more; he wanted to be more, and that began with helping Jack in his current endeavors.

Punch after punch was thrown and Jack took great pride in spitting the blood he gathered in his mouth into Brown’s face to better the accuracy of his punches. Fear struck him as he watched the boy he told to leave crouch and crawl behind Translucent while they brawled. The boy had a plan but Jack still couldn’t bear to watch another young individual hurt by his involvement in their life. No matter how brief.

Even though he knew Will would not have come back if he didn’t know what to do, he was surprised when he seized the damaged wiring which was previously connected to the TV and jammed the sparking thing against what he could only assume was Matthew’s spine. 

Like Will assumed: that “carbon metamaterial” Matt spoke of, was very conductive.

Lights pulsed throughout the now nearly transparent form as Will’s eyes widened in fear like he only just realized the direness of his actions. After a few shocking moments, Will pulled the wire from Matthew and cringed when he heard the telltale “thump” of a body hitting the ground.

“You have no idea what you just got yourself into,” Jack panted, leaning back against the ruined wall of shelves.


	3. Chapter 3

-Vought, That Morning-

Hannibal felt an absence like no other when he entered the headquarters.

Using his x-ray vision, he surveyed the building, finding Alana, Margot, Chiyoh, Francis, Tobias, Bedelia, and countless others, but no Matthew, which should have been expected given the man is rarely in visible form, but still felt off to Hannibal.

Francis should have been the one to disappear.

By now, he should have already been visible, exposing himself shamelessly to his captain as he spoke of recent busts and dirt on Bedelia which Hannibal may have missed in his absence, but today he stood in silence staring at their empty conference room and waiting for Matthews smooth, almost threatening voice to come to fruition.

“What’s wrong?” Margot mumbled from the bar blandly. The inquiry was more out of obligation that genuine worry and Hannibal understood that. He cared little about Margot as well.

“Is Matthew hiding in the bathroom again? Any of them?”

She swirled the ice in her cup with curious eyes. “He didn’t expose himself to me when I was pissing, so no, I don’t think so.”

“So crude, Miss Verger.”

The woman raised her glass in response but watched him closely, naturally curious about Hannibal’s strengthened concern.

“Are you really worried that much about him? The kid has impenetrable skin, super strength, no one can see him. If he’s in any situation, he can get out of it.”

An uncomfortable silence wafted over the two.

“You remember those terrorists?” she broke the silence and Hannibal responded with a curt nod, “If he can get out of that he can get out of anything. That is if he’s even in danger, which he isn’t.”

She made a fair point, Hannibal decided, and left the room. Of course, that thought only stayed valid after he left the room and stood alone with his thoughts for a moment.

With pure curiosity I mind, he ignored his logical side telling him to go to Bedelia for advice (as he knew she would tell him to focus on himself) and made haste to Vought’s team of technicians who could track Matthew down remotely.

-The Lab-

Jack walked into the mess of a basement to find his former charges.

Jimmy perked, “Well well well,” his tone was as pleasant as ever.

“Long time no see, Jack,” Brian mumbled as he focused on repairing some kind of engine part.

“It has been, hasn’t it?” The tone of Jack’s voice left more to be desired. The final word hung and drifted in the wind, ready to be stilled with a conclusion the sentence didn’t seem like it called for.

Jimmy and Brian shared knowing glances at one another. They knew what that tone meant and looked towards their old boss in unison.

“Um…” the older man began, “what did you need?”

“This must get boring: messing around with parts,” he spoke, glancing around the dirty room with his hands shoved in his pockets mysteriously.

Jack was received with silence.

“You two used to be great at biology-”

“Please,”

Jack raised his eyes to an impatient Brain.

“Get to the point.”

\---

Brian eyed the obviously uncomfortable man as he hugged himself and stood beside the SUV. His eyes were directed in some off direction and he looked worse for wear.

His forearms bled through the flannel he had tightly buttoned and Brian could barely distinguish between what was and wasn’t blood. He was covered in wine and smelt strong enough of it to make Brian’s nose wrinkle in disgust.

Still, he was fairly attractive and looked too young and, God forbid him, pretty to be palling around with Jack, Price, and him.

“Who’s this?”

“Graham, introduce yourself.” 

“I’m Will,” he mumbled curtly, glancing into Brian's scrutinizing gaze only for a moment before looking away like his eyes burned him.

Something about that bothered Brian but he pushed his judgment aside only for a moment.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Price spoke and broke the tension, holding a hand out to him assuredly.

Will took it with a faint, almost embarrassed smile.

“Don’t take this personally, but you could go for a shower and a nap,” he chuckled softly.

“Oh, I’m aware,” Will responded just as playfully with raised eyebrows to accentuate his tone. Something about that playfulness didn’t fit Will.

“Alright, formalities aside, what did you need to show us.”

Jack smiled faintly towards an apprehensive Will as he walked to his trunk and lifted it open.

Brian’s thick eyebrows furrowed in offense when he didn’t see anything in the truck. He almost snapped at Jack and Will until his anger was interrupted by the familiar voice of none other than Translucent himself.

“You all are making a horrible mistake. I look forward to watching Hannibal crush all your skulls in his fists-”

“Holy shit,” Jimmy breathed uncharacteristically and looked to his partner.

Brian's mouth gaped in surprise as he listened to the voice go on about the details of their death before Jack took a taser and silenced the man again.

“So what do you say? Are you down to dip back into biology?”

\---

Soft breaths left Will's mouth as he looked at his blurred form in the fogged bathroom mirror.

Wiping the steam away, he regarded his slightly bruised but otherwise normal features, touching the nasty, purple blemish on his forehead with a gentle touch and grimace in response.

The cuts received by the glass shards on his forearms were nothing serious: mere cuts that only required a pair of tweezers and peroxide, but they still looked rather ugly.

It only took a few days for Will's life to fall apart. 

Thinking about that fact only served to make his heartache more than the adrenaline had been able to mask and the absence of Molly became apparent once again. He leaned his forehead against the mirror and furrowed his brows, staring down at the murky colored porcelain sink that obviously hadn't been cleaned in years. 

Faint voices of the three men as they argued about what to do with one of the most famous superheroes in America flooded into Will's consciousness once he stopped hearing his blood rush.

He looked to the stack of relatively clean clothes Brian offered him to change into after his shower. 

Will knew the man either did not like him, trust him, or both. Call it intuition but it was pretty obvious to Will.

_"You remind me of who I used to be."_

_"Timid"_

_"Bright-eyed"_

_"Innocent"_

_"Now look at me."_

_"Look at me."_

_"Goddammit. Look at me!"_

Will blinked off those intrusive thoughts and continued looking over the clothes. Though Brian offered, he knew it was only because Will's last outfit smelled strongly of old wine and blood. The scents bothered Brian's nose. 

Not to mention, Brian seemed to be the only man in their little "group" with similar clothing sizes. Jimmy looked much too small and short and Jack’s clothes would have swallowed Will alive and the man wanted to spare himself of that additional embarrassment.

The black cotton felt nice against his skin and contrasted nicely with his complexion, not that Will had been paying much attention to that detail. 

While the t-shirt had been on the larger side, the pants were nearly too tight and long. Brian was much scrawnier than Will, so the pants stretched uncomfortably around his calves and "hip area". He feared they may rip given the wrong movement but decided against making a show of asking for a different pair. The day was already bad after all.

He tugged on his own shoes since the blood and wine came off of them easily and rolled the jeans into neat cuffs at the bottom.

“Took you long enough,” Brian mumbled snarkily when Will left the bathroom. It had obviously been an attempt to sound playful but Will and Jimmy knew otherwise, the latter shooting a glare at the man whose challenging eyes had yet to disengage from Will’s.

“Would you stop? We have other things to worry about, Z.”

Will realized “Z” was Brian's nickname, an acronym for his last name that he did not plan on using. 

No, that would imply friendship and they were not friends.

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry.”

“How long until Hannibal finds us, do you think?” Price mumbles softly, fear prominent in his tone of voice.

Z looked to the room that Matthew had been stored in. An electrically charged cage sat at the very center behind a locked, metal door. 

As Will showered, they wrapped every inch of the room in aluminum foil.

“It should take a while. The metal should be able to interfere with the tracker he has and Hannibal's x-ray vision.”

“Hannibal won’t be able to see into it?”

“Nope.”

“Good, any ideas on how to end this?”

“End this?” Will questioned.

The three men looked at him in unison, all wearing expressions of surprise.

“You mean kill him?” He clarified because of their shock, looking over their faces collectively.

Brian scoffed and rolled his eyes as he looked away in disbelief.

“We’ll have to, Will…” Jack mumbled in that defeated, understanding tone that Price and Zeller were all too familiar with.

Will shifted where he stood uncomfortably. It should have been obvious, their plan, but for some reason, the predictions that Will created ended with questioning Matt about Francis and why he ran through his girlfriend.

Swallowing and closing his eyes, he nodded in acceptance and stepped back to lean on the wall and get his bearings straight.

Jack regarded him a moment longer, making sure he was in the right state of mind to handle their topic of conversation before looking back at his old friends.

“What are we getting for all of this?”

“Pardon?” Jack laughed softly.

“You don’t know anything about science. At most, you’ll be using some tools if we need help, but hypothesizing, problem-solving, testing, predicting, results, that’s all Jimmy and I."

Jack was nodding like he considered Brian's words fair, but even Will knew it wasn't that simple.

"All you did was bring us the guy, so what do we get?”

“You get to not go to prison.”

Jimmy looked to Brian uncomfortably as he sighed faintly in defeat.

“He’s seen both of your faces," Jack spoke calmly, "I barely persuaded you into this. You should have known that this was the nature of what you’d be dealing with and now he’s seen your faces so either you do your jobs or he walks free and notifies Hannibal about your side hobbies.”

“Dammit,” Zeller mumbled and ran his fingers through his hair. Jack’s tone stayed the same: never angry, rather informative, and truthful. Zeller and Price couldn’t argue nor did they have room to. 

They'd opened pandora’s box and now they had to deal with what left it.

\---

Will closed his eyes, sitting atop a large sink against the wall as he listened to the high powered drill being used in Matt’s cell.

He was avoiding him.

He had to.

Unconsciously, he began picking at the cuts on his forearms which began to scab over before he was shaking by his altered state.

“How are the cuts doing, kiddo?” Price’s voice cut in as he walked in front of Will’s line of sight with a sincere smile.

“They’ve scabbed.”

“Any other wounds you might want to talk about?”

Will’s brows furrow questioningly at the silver-haired man’s implications, and looked up from his arm and into his eyes. Jimmy continued.

“I know what happened a few days ago and that paired with your confrontation with Brown in there? Well,” he scoffed and nodded his head no with wide, disbelieving eyes, “I couldn’t imagine holding it together as well as you are right now.”

A smile forced its way across Will’s expression. The man’s kindness was appreciated. “I don’t feel like I am…” he trailed.

Jimmy nodded and clapped a hand against his shoulder softly. “I needed a status report. Once this all is dealt with-”

“If this all is dealt with,” Will’s brain interjected as he met the man’s eyes.

“-you and I will actually have the time to talk through it and get you back on track, and you will.”

Will recognized the worry in his tone.

“You’re young enough to walk away from all of this,” he finished wholesomely, point only accentuated by the anguished yell of Crawford as he threw open the door and tossed the heavy, useless drill onto Jimmy and Brian’s messy work table.


	4. Chapter 4

-HQ-

Hannibal strolled out of the large skyscraper, standing amongst a line of people as they attempted to pass him to carry on with their endeavors or smiled and gasped at his presence.

He was a celebrity of sorts: worshipped by the ants below him, and even though most would have loved to be in his situation, it could get boring. Still, it paid to stand with them on the ground. Make him “down to earth”, no pun intended of course.

He was accepted now: loved.

Exactly how it needed to be.

As he smiled for his final picture, he waved goodbye to the adoring fans before shooting off into the sky in search of the missing member of his team.

When speaking to the technicians in charge of Matthew’s tracker, they managed to clarify that his area was vaguer than the other heroes fitted with trackers. Where Hannibal and Alana could be found exactly where they stood, Matt’s signal seemed to be manipulated in some way, bouncing off of many things and causing the radius of his location to be much larger than what would be convenient to Hannibal.

Still, he decided it would not pay to wait any longer and informed the techs to contact him if they were able to whittle down the width of his signal.

They agreed and implored how hard they would try to meet Hannibal’s standards but he knew they lacked the confidence to reach those expectations.

Like always, Hannibal would have to do everything for himself.

-The Lab-

Will was left alone with his thoughts.

Anxiety failed to crawl up his spine like he expected it to when Jack, Brian, and Price told him they would need to talk privately in the other room. He had faith in the integrity of the cell Matthew was stored in despite how chaotic and bumbling the duo who constructed it seemed.

After a few more minutes, a sigh left his nose.

The situation he found himself in expanded much further than Molly. Jack and friends were no longer interested in what Matt would have to say. In that moment, Matt was better dead to them than alive, but either Will had no survival instinct or Will’s situation didn’t relate much to theirs.

How much of a threat could Hannibal be? Will understood he was powerful, the most powerful man alive, but he was also publicised as calm and sophisticated: nothing like how Matt described him.

Surely, if they never found a way to kill him and Hannibal found them instead, he could just open up about the assault he received.

“No,” his brain corrected, “you bugged their HQ first.”

“Fair point,” he responded to himself, “maybe I could appeal to his sympathetic nature?”

“He doesn’t have one.”  
Will swallowed, closing his eyes and choosing to focus on the single thing that he’s decided he wanted from Matt in the first place. The past did not matter, nor the future, just the present: just answers.

Hastily, he found a glass, albeit a bit dirty but serviceable, and filled it with water.

“I know you don’t want to be here,” Matthew mumbled as Will entered his room holding that cup of water in his free hand. “What’s that?” He asked, a sudden change of heart. 

“Water,” Will answers calmly, kneeling and placing the glass down near the bars while stifling a cringe when Brian's jeans tightened around his thighs. Hesitantly, he pushes the glass forward with his index finger, not wanting his hand to be seized by the superhero. A tense sigh of relief left his mouth when the cup was taken and pulled between the bars.

Enamored, Will watched as the glass tilted and allowed water to travel from it to Matthew's invisible mouth.

“So what is this?” Matt breathed out through a now hydrated throat, “They have you playing good cop?"

Will nods his head no softly as he continues kneeling to what he assumes is Matthew's height sitting in the rather small cage. "They don't have me doing anything… I don't even know if I was supposed to do that…" he nods to the now empty glass of water.

“... My lips are sealed," amusement was laced in Matthew's tone, "What do you want to know? Is this all about Molly? Why he ran through her?”

“Sure.” Will shifted where he kneeled in anticipation.

The boy Will was speaking to frowned as his eyes flickered over Will's features. “How boring,” Matthew sighed.

Offense crossed the man's face subtly as he released a sigh through his nose, looked away from the voice, and glared in a random corner of the room. Matt realized this grown man was pouting and the superhero trapped in the cage couldn’t help but chuckle at how wholesome Will’s anguished expression was.

“I’m sorry about your girl. I really am. What happened to her was fucked up, alright?” Matthew's tone had softened, lowering even lower in octave and gaining a sympathetic husk that wasn't there before.

Will responded well to that tone, Matthew found, as he observed those blue eyes while they flickered in his direction again.

“I bet you believed me more than you believed it when Francis said it, huh?"

“Did he even care?” Will confirmed with a hushed tone, eyes softening at nothing in particular, “You would know right?"

There was a strong silence but before Will could lose hope, Matthew broke it, “He did.”

Though it would be easier for Matthew to lie to Will and falsely state that his coworker cared, Will believed him.

Matthew's head tilted ever so slightly, an inquisition building in his brain as his observations lead to a single conclusion, "But you would have already known that right?”

Will eyes glazed as the claustrophobic setting of Matthew's cell morphed into the street he had been standing on that fateful day.

Matthew sounded like he was closer this time, his voice echoing in Will’s head. “Tell me how he felt.”

_Then Will could feel it: the breeze on his face. _

_He was going fast. _

_God._

_He couldn’t see. Everything is a blur._

_What is time?_

_The red and blue light emanating from an open sign outside of a liquor store traveled beside him as it blinked periodically._

_“The speed of light."_

_"I am traveling at the speed of light-"_

_Then, he hit a roadblock. Just another obstacle._

_It felt like running through a water balloon._

_"I stop and look at him. Fuck. He's covered in blood. I'm covered in blood. He's staring ahead, expecting to see the lover I just ran through."_

_"I can relate to having a girl. I have one. But I can't stop. I can't stop because of her." _

Suddenly, Will’s eyes opened with a shuddering breath, and for the first time, it no longer looked like he was alone.

Matthew sat at the center of the cage. Stark naked with Jack's dried blood over his face but Will couldn't gather any shock. At least the younger man had the courtesy to shield his genitals. 

“Holy shit," he spoke, eyes widened and face split into an awed smile.

Will nodded his head no, eyes more tired than ever.

“Whatever you thought that was, it wasn't," Will spoke firmly, suddenly disinterested in speaking with Matt.

“Oh really? Then that’s one hell of an imagination you have, Mr. Graham."

Mister: a sign of respect.

Will nodded, accepting the label Matthew offered him as he stood.

“You’re afraid of it aren’t you?” Matthew didn’t need Will to respond, “You’re afraid of it so you haven’t tried to expand it.”

"I don't know what you're talking about," Will responded smoothly as he turned to exit the room.

“Will.”

He looked back at the man one last time, eyes beautifully fearful in Matt's. He suppressed a pleasured shudder.

“You need to get out of here."

Will's brow twitched.

"In just a few, Hannibal will find me and, when he does, let's just say, my previous threats weren't hyperbole."

For some reason, Will thought on Matt's words and remained unafraid.

“Hannibal, he isn’t as crude as what I said before: sees carnage, broken bones, brain matter, all of that, as tasteless.” 

"Surely that'd be a good thing," Will thought before Matthew continued.

"He wouldn’t crush your skull in his fist, even though he could, mind you." Matt nodded his head no, sparkling shark eyes crashing with Will's starkly. "No, he’d pull out your spine like a pipe cleaner, use it to hang you, and call it a message about how overwhelmed America's working class is."

Will’s posture straightened at the threat as his imagination provided vivid images of the crime Matthew entailed.

“Those other guys may deserve that fate," he shifts closer to the charged bars of his cage to look up at his captor better, nodding his head no at the same time, "but I don’t think you do."

Will's eyes were softened but surprisingly spiteful. 

"Honestly, Will. I only see this scenario going one of two ways." His voice suddenly became threatening even though his inflection barely changed. "Either you let me out of this cage-"

_"-and I may let you go-"_

"or you hightail it outta here-"

_"-and I’ll make it a personal mission to seek you out once I escape."_

Will could hear the subtext without Matt uttering it and nods, finally closing the door, stumbling out of the window’s view, and doubling over with a shaky sigh against a wall.

\---

“I figured it out,” Price breathed, strewn back on a seat in the corner of the room as Brian slaved away on a few bullets he’d convinced himself could puncture Matt’s skin.

“I’m all ears, Jimmy. It’s getting to crunch time so I need you to lay it on me asyay oonsay asyay ossiblepay.”

He points to the television tiredly. The audio was nearly silent, but what was being displayed was all Brian needed to know before his eyes widened at Price like he was a reborn messiah.

“Have I ever told you how brilliant you are?”

Jimmy smiled back cheekily but nodded. “It may be too obscene, don’t you think?”

Brian began rummaging through some boxes cautiously. “This guy walks around, stark naked, to fight crime. Jack told me he was probably spying on Graham in the bathroom,” he was finally able to retrieve a remote and looked to his partner with a faint smile, “I think morals are out the window, my friend.”


	5. Chapter 5

\---

Matthew felt horrible.

While the constant electrocution wasn’t fatal, it did become exhausting being tazed every few hours.

Though, this time felt different. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the four men staring down at him. He was still invisible but they could estimate where he was by the groan that left his mouth when he woke.

It wasn’t the cramped pain in his colon that struck fear in his heart, rather, the deliriously fearful look on Will’s face. The other two, however, looked relatively smug.

This wouldn’t be good.

“What did you do to me?” he asked, voice still at a steady level

Brian’s arms were crossed in a dominating stance as he looked to his partner.

“We came to realize that getting through your skin was a lost cause. Your gag reflex forced us to explore other options of getting something deadly inside of you.”

What the hell did that mean?

Almost as if Jack heard him, he clarified. “We stuck explosives in you.”

Finally, Matthew revealed himself, looking up at them with badly concealed shock.

Will’s jaw had been set as he forced himself to look away from the younger man, gripping at his forearms in discomfort.  
“Did you want to know something? Anything, ask me anything.”

Jack smiled faintly and nodded his head no in thought.

“Where was Francis going,” Will asked suddenly.

The look Will received from Matthew was incredulous in nature. Matt thought Will should know; Will was special like that.

“Well? C’mon, tell him. We don’t have all day,” Jack sighed as he lifted a remote and shook it. Matt realized that remote was what stood between him and freedom (aside from the cage of course). 

With a shuddery breath, Matthew looked back at Will from the remote. “He has a girlfriend.”

Will knew that and hated that he couldn’t put two and two together.

“A girlfriend? So? Why the rush?” Jack’s head tilted.

“Fuck,” Matthew scoffed, nodding his head no as he looked away, “I don’t know," he seethed, "I couldn't tell you. It came outta nowhere for us too."

“And who is she?”

Matthew responded with silence before sighing softly, “A supe named Reba. Not that well known: c-tier, blind lady but her other senses are heightened because of it.”

“Yeah… yeah, I know of her,” Brian nodded as his hands found his hips and looked to Jack, “Is that a lead?”

“It is if I’ve ever heard one,” Jack laughed softly.

A faint whoosh interrupted their conversation.

Matthew stiffened, looking up at the ceiling as they were in the basement and grinned with a wide smile. “He’s here.”

Jack frowned at the fact and grasped the remote tighter.

“Heyheyhey-! Stop.” Price seized it quickly, his brows furrowed at Jack. “We can’t.”

“We don’t have a choice.”

“He has super hearing,” he insisted.

Jack grew silent because he realized, with horror, Jimmy was right.

“If we blow him up, Hannibal will hear and he will find us.”

The other nodded softly, cogs turning as his dark eyes met Brian’s.

“How far are we from your current apartment, Z?”

Brian’s brows furrowed. “A good few miles. Why?”

“And that would be in Hannibal’s hearing range, right?” Jack now asked Price.

“It would given the loudness.”

Will looked from one man to another as they spoke before he glanced to Matthew who’s eyes were on his. If Matt wanted to, he could have admitted the moment they had together mere hours ago, but he didn’t. Will didn’t know whether to be thankful or apprehensive of his apparent generosity.

“Is Katz home, Zeller?”

“Yes, she is,” Brian seethed, obviously unhappy with what would be the conclusion to their dialogue.

“I’m gonna need you to do it again, Z, one more time.”

“Goddammit, Jack. I can’t do this again.”

“It doesn’t look like you have much of a choice right now.”

“We don’t have service down here,” he spoke hopelessly, “the metal interferes with my laptop, my phone. We need to get up there so I can tell Kat and authorize detonation.”

“Fuck, just, c’mon, get up there,” Jack gave in as he ushered the duo up the stairs and left Will standing in their lab dumbly.

Silently, he closed the door of the room Matt was stored in.

He wouldn’t have been able to see the smile that crossed his face anyway.

\---

“This is bad, really bad. How the hell did I let Jack pull Jimmy and I back into this shit?” Brian questioned himself as he ran up the stairs leading to their lab quickly, leaving the others in the dust thanks to his long legs. 

Once the other two got to the mouth of the stairs, they viewed their friend has he nearly upturned the area of the restaurant their lab was stored under.

“This can’t be happening, not right now,” he mumbled with a desperate tone of voice, nearly chucking a chair across the room to get it out of his way.

“What’s wrong?” Jimmy asked, fear apparent in his tone as he held both hands together.

“I can’t find my fucking laptop,” he responded before opting to take his phone in one hand and continue searching with the other.

The phone number he dialed had responded after a few tense rings.

“Hey babe, what’s going on?”

“Hey Kat, so, you won’t be happy,” he laughed hoarsely.

Her tone became apprehensive yet deadly. “And can you tell me why I won’t be happy?”

“Uhm,” he shifted warily, “we need to commence plan D.”

“Oh, you can’t be serious,” she groaned, “Is it Jack again? It’s Jack again isn’t it.”

“I can hear you, Beverly.”

“Great, tell me how much time I have.” The faint sound of movement became visible on her side. She must have been gathering her stuff. 

“You need to start it sooner than later. I’ll trigger the other half in hopefully five minutes from now.”

“Brian?”

“Yeah?” he panted, his attempts to rummage around stopped by her sincere tone.

“I need you to not do something stupid.”

Silence. It was already too late.

“Can you do that for me, Z?”

“Yeah,” his eyes flashed with intuition as he suddenly remembered where his laptop was, “I can do that. I’ll see you. Get out of there as soon as possible.

Jack watched Brian hang up before Katz could respond.

“It's in our van outside.”

“Why is it in the van?” Jack groaned with an air of exacerbation. 

“It has a wifi hot-spot,” Jimmy provided with leveled sass.

Jack stared at him for a long, threatening moment before he nods. “Well, let's get out there then.”

\---

Hannibal felt like he had questioned nearly a dozen rather sketchy-looking citizens but had no lead. Their heart rates would pick up but it was difficult to distinguish between excitement and guilt-lead fear. Still, he was rather confident in his deductive ability and knew Matthew was being held by someone in the vicinity he was flying around.

He hovered in the air while watching a silver-haired man enter an odd-looking van in an alleyway. 

While he lowered himself to the ground, he recognized that he couldn’t see through the van’s walls.

Aluminum.

“Oh- Oh my god,” the human breathed, eyes wide as he stared at Hannibal when he landed in front of him, his hand against the door handle but no longer moving, “You’re… You’re the Captain Lecter. My, it’s such an honor. Such an honor!”

His heart rate was fast but the seeming excitement in his eyes was enough for Hannibal to want to shrug it off.

Jimmy was a rather impressive actor if he did say so himself.

Within the van, Brian had his hand cupped over his mouth and nose with wide, fearful eyes. 

The plan was to get Hannibal out of there. Used to being in danger and having the evidence to get convicted, Brian wasn’t unused to rigging his houses and apartments with explosives to be rid of said evidence. Jack implied that, in order to kill Matthew, Brian would have to get his apartment to explode a distance away to get Hannibal out of their hair. 

He hoped it would work as he stared at the laptop screen.

He’d already authorized the self-destruction and could only wait and pray that Beverly could gather her belongings fast enough to set the timer, get out of there, and make Hannibal leave.

“Thank you,” Hannibal smiled at Jimmy’s excitement but the gesture faded until he was only staring at the older fellow.

“Well… how can I help you, cap’n?” the human lilted playfully.

“Do you mind if I get a look inside your van, sir?”

“My van? Um, why, if I may ask?”

Hannibal glanced at him as he walked along the length of it.

“There isn’t anything in there,” he continued, smiling strongly.

“Than it should be no trouble looking inside-” his hand met the latch to open the back but froze when the telltale sound of an explosion a slight distance away reverberated against his eardrums. His grip on the latch faltered.

“... Everything okay back there?” Jimmy asked, leaning to get a look at Hannibal and praying that the door hadn’t been opened.

Before he got a response, Hannibal shot into the air, leaving the three men to release breaths of relief.


	6. Chapter 6

\---

The anxiety in Will’s chest began to rise the longer Jack, Jimmy, and Brian left him there. The longer they were gone the less likely they would be able to get away with their “investigation”.

He realized he should play guard: take the remote and make sure Matthew didn’t do anything threatening, so he grabbed said remote and stepped into the room.

Somehow, he felt worse in this room: like Hannibal outside and unassuming was less of a threat than the invisible man stored in the cage who knew too much. As Will thought on the emotions he felt, a smell punctured his awareness.

It was sharp: a musky, almost familiar smell, like using a portapotty or the boy’s restroom in high school.

He looked towards the wiring set up to keep the cage electrically charged and noticed the liquid that had been sprayed upon it and looked back to the cage, recognizing the door was slightly ajar.

Matthew had pissed on the wiring

and he was out of his cage.

_“You could’ve taken one of my choices and this would have ended up much better for you, Graham.”_

_Will’s eyes closed and he was suddenly standing in a different area of the room, approaching himself from behind._

_He raises his fist in preparation to beat the living shit out of the man who had a hand in his capture and-_

Will jumps out of the way, listening to a slight shuffle as an invisible fist nearly makes impact with the side of his head.

_He was now leaning on the cage, disoriented and questioning just how the man could have seen that coming, maybe he’d been too loud?_

Will suddenly questions that as well; How did he see that coming and why was he still holding the remote-?

Matthew's fist made contact with his soft stomach, making Will wheeze and crumple in shock and unrelenting confusion. In a sleight of hand, the hero took the remote from his hand and dropped it in between the bars and into what was his cage. While not the best place to hide the one thing that could probably end his life, it would have to do for the moment.

Will kneels down and feels himself lean against Matt’s shins as the boy stands over him domineeringly.

_“I’m not letting you off that easy.”_

Matt grabs him by his hair, dragging him out of the room he hated so very much now and throws him against the wall.

Will groaned, gripping at the wall to keep himself standing for the sake of ego and stared in the general direction of where he’d been thrown.

“You could leave now,” the human spoke.

“Oh? So now you’re the one appealing to my good side, Willy?” 

_“I wouldn’t want to leave for the world. All that time in the cell just gave me time to imagine how badly I could hurt you.”_

_He surges forward and grabs Will by his neck with both hands, shaking them and jostling his head as he tried to get the human to stop fighting him. Large blue eyes watered but were suddenly glaring at him._

_Into his eyes._

_Matt could now see how white his knuckles were. How pronounced the veins of his hands had become._

_“I’m… visible.”_

Will’s eyes widened when he heard that thought and actually saw the naked man pinning him against the wall. The bruising grip on his neck faltered and Will’s survival instinct finally kicked in.

The hands gripping Matthew’s jerked them away and he found himself right hooking the superhero.

To Will’s surprise, his knuckles didn’t shatter against Matt’s impenetrable skin, rather, when Matt looked to Will from having his head knocked aside from the impact, there was a visible, bleeding, wound left behind.

He was no longer pinning him, simply looking dead into Will’s eyes in shock, fear, and what felt like awe.

Will felt a steady drop of blood flow from his fist and down his limp hand as he processed the situation as well.

_“I had a feeling there was something different about this gu-”_

_An agonizing pain shot through his brain._

and Will was left, leaning on the wall, with Matthew’s blood sprayed over his face.

Dull, blue eyes fell to the crumpled, dead superhero executed by a basic gunshot wound through the temple.

Will could only hear his breath and ear’s ringing but knew to look to the left and lock eyes with Brian.

His lips had been pressed into a thin, thoughtful line. His eyes were wild, not because of the murder, but because of what he witnessed and his ability to suddenly end the man with a pistol of all things.

He didn’t think it would work, but being a science man and witnessing Will draw Matthew’s blood made his cogs turn.

“I-” Will spoke, “I don’t know what just happened.”

“I do,” he stepped off of the staircase finally and looked at Matthew’s dead body, “You took his powers away.”

Brian joined the man’s side and cupped his shoulder, witnessing a single trail of blood leaving Will’s nostril.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be a bit of a hiatus to get the next series of chapters uploaded but I genuinely thank everyone who took the time out of their day to read this.
> 
> Everything that took place in this fanfiction was pretty much a remake of the series but the chapters following will stray away. I have a lot of plans regarding other characters from Hannibal and the origins of Will's newfound ability.
> 
> Thank you all!


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